


You Can't Save Everyone

by ernyx



Category: Daredevil (Comics), Daredevil (TV), Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Child Death, Child Soldiers, Explosions, Gen, Minor Character Death, matt murdock's heart of gold, peter parker to the rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-10
Updated: 2015-06-10
Packaged: 2018-04-03 20:50:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4114525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ernyx/pseuds/ernyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He huffed out a small breath, using the way the sound bounced off things to better gauge his surroundings. The boy was maybe 45 inches tall? That would translate to about six years old, maybe seven. Far too young to be holding that pistol. Semi-automatic, probably.</p><p>    Matt grimaced, stepping forward. “Look, kid. I’m not gonna hurt you. You don’t have to do this.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Can't Save Everyone

    Something was off. He could hear it in the boy’s heartbeat, a mix of fear and pain. Matt was sure he had a weapon, but it hadn’t moved, he couldn’t get a clear read on what it might be, even with his sixth sense in overdrive. This was why some people called his affection for children a weakness. If that was a vulnerability of his, though, he’d keep it. No child deserved to hurt. No child deserved to have to _fight_ like he did.

    He huffed out a small breath, using the way the sound bounced off things to better gauge his surroundings. The boy was maybe 45 inches tall? That would translate to about six years old, maybe seven. Far too young to be holding that pistol. Semi-automatic, probably.

    Matt grimaced, stepping forward. “Look, kid. I’m not gonna hurt you. You don’t have to do this.”

    There was a shaky breath in response, a finger tightening on the trigger.

    “Don’t shoot, alright? I’ll get you out safe. Whoever’s making you do this, I won’t let them get to you. Or… or to anyone they’re holding to make you gun me down. I’ll get everyone home safe.”

    If it hadn’t been for his extraordinary hearing, he wouldn’t have heard the half-sniffle. The boy’s heart was beating slower though. It should have picked up with the adrenaline, but—

    “Hey, are you hurt? What’s wrong?”

    A bang shattered the quiet, and Matt barely jumped out of the way. Two more rounds, then another two, but the aim was shoddy at best. The kid wasn’t trained, so clearly this was just a ploy to get Matt to drop his guard. And yet there was nobody else in the vicinity, not a single backup in the whole building. He rushed forward, kicked the gun hard to knock it away from the young boy, and pulled him into his arms.

    The kid was crying now. Matt tried to ask him what was going on, but just got sobbing in answer. Feeling around, he found a wet patch on the front of the boy’s shirt, and when he moved it out of the way, his fingers brushed stitches.

                                        _Shit._

    Suddenly there was another incoming heartbeat, fast, _too_ fast to be a normal person, and a crash signaled their entry through the window. “Matt!” came the panicked shout, and the blind man turned in alarm. He knew that voice.

    “Peter, what’s—“

    “Get away!” A strand of webbing struck his chest and pulled him to Parker’s side before they were soaring through the air onto the next rooftop.

    “There’s a kid in—“ He was interrupted by a gigantic _boom_. The building he’d just been in exploded, glass shattering outward, floors capsizing down onto each other… and burying the boy who had been holding the gun. Matt’s breath stuttered out of him.

    Peter placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Sorry, Murdock. He was a plant. There was an explosive sewn into his gut. There was nothing you could do.”

    Suddenly the slowing heartbeat made sense. The kid’s resistance to his help wasn’t because of loyalties, it was because he was already… dead. Maybe they’d promised him that they’d keep his parents alive if he managed to kill “the man in the black mask”, but the goons around here weren’t known for keeping their word. Either way, it was over.

    Peter watched Matt’s internal struggle with a frown. He was just glad they’d gotten out of there alive, but there was no sparing his friend’s feelings. Every death in the whole of Hell’s Kitchen was a blow to Matt—it wasn’t a burden that was made for one man to carry.

    Finally Matt sighed, rubbing at his face. “Hey Parker, give me a ride home?”

    Peter made sure Matt tucked himself in before leaving. Daredevil might have been hurt and exhausted today, but Spiderman wasn’t, and Peter promised himself that whoever was behind this was going to get their ass handed to them before dawn.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel guilty writing the deaths of children, but I feel like that's what would get under Matt's skin the most. This work is based off Matt Murdock as presented in the Netflix/TV Daredevil series, but with interaction with Peter as in comic canon.
> 
> Comments? Feedback? I'd love to hear it! Drop me a line either here or on my tumblr (@artificiallyimplantedmemories) !


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